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Friday, 1 July 2016

Abrupt climate change melted ice caps and flooded coasts.
Regina Shen is an outcast condemned to live on the seaward side of barrier
walls. A hurricane threatens to destroy Regina’s world, tearing her from
sister, mom, and home.

The World Federation’s notorious Department of Antiquities polices barrier
walls and suppresses knowledge from the past. Regina thrives on salvage from
sunken cities, including illegal print books from before the Federation. With
photographic memory, she defies Antiquities by reading books not available in
the Federation. Antiquities claims Regina has unique DNA that could
single-handedly stop human extinction. It's too bad she doesn't trust them
enough to barter fairly, let alone with her life.

As the storm worsens, Antiquities and their allies doggedly pursue Regina. Does
she have the resilience to survive the storm and avoid capture while hunting
for family?

Lance Erlick likes to explore intriguing worlds with mostly
strong female characters you can relate to, as they are thrust into
extraordinary situations. He writes character-driven, action-packed, science
fiction thrillers full of twists and turns.

He is the author of the Rebel series. In those stories, Annabelle Scott is
forced to become a warrior to enforce laws she believes are wrong. This year
Lance released the Regina Shen series. This series takes place after abrupt
climate change leads to the Great Collapse and a new society under the World
Federation. As an outcast, Regina must fight to stay free and help her family.
Lance is also the author of short stories and novelettes.

As an outcast, Regina Shen has grown up in the swamps on the
seaward side of barrier walls built to keep her and others like her out. She
lives with her often-absent mother and younger sister. She has a beloved
teacher who has picked up on Regina’s eidetic memory, an ability to quickly
absorb illegal print books from before the Federation. When Regina isn’t in
school or watching her sister, she’s diving salvage from sunken cities for
anything to barter for survival. Already, she recovered a well-preserved
hunter’s crossbow that she has become adept with. She is the quintessential
survivor, but now faces a hurricane that threatens to destroy her entire world
and agents who are chasing her.

Chief among the agents is Inspector Joanne Demarco, who was
born an outcast and has fought her way to the top of the feared Department of
Antiquities. Her job is to destroy all artifacts from before the Federation and
keep the peace. Then she discovers that Regina’s DNA could prevent a worldwide
fertility collapse and the extinction of humankind. Demarco is an opportunist
who seeks to use Regina for personal gain, but she’s not the only one.

2. Who designs the covers for your books and what is that process like for you
as an author?

The cover designer for the Regina Shen series is Donna
Harriman Murillo. She has a large portfolio of young adult and fantasy covers
and has done a great job coming up with a set for the Regina Shen series. She
has also updated the covers for the Rebel series, which are now listed on
Goodreads.

As part of the cover design process, I provide her with a
long synopsis of the book, a description of the characters, and some of the
major themes of the story. From that, she comes up with a draft cover that
presents her idea of a cover. We go back and forth until we are both satisfied
with the presentation. Then we wrap it up. She has been great to work with.

3. Describe your ideal writing spot.

Creative writing for me happens in two parts. The idea part
grabs me when I’m doing anything but writing. Sometimes when I’m driving; often
in the middle of the night I wake up with ideas or entire scenes, which I
scribble in the dark on a pad by my bed. The actual drafting of the story I do
on a laptop.

I wrote my very first book on a pad of paper and when it
came time to edit I decided to move on to another project rather than investing
in typing it up. From there, I decided never to do that again. So now, I write
on a laptop in a room where I can control the distractions.

4. What is the best advice you have been given?

The best advice I’ve received was to write what I was
passionate about instead of trying to write what might be popular today. When
I’ve run into roadblocks and hurdles, such as writing from the opposite gender,
I’ve stepped back and asked myself whether this is really the story I want to
write. If the answer is yes, I dive in.

5. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I first got the bug to write when I was eleven. I’ve jumped
in and stepped back at various times, but always come back to this passion. If
it wasn’t writing, I’ve always been fascinated by science and history. I
actually started college in physics, but that didn’t last. Today, I wish I’d
given it a bit more time, but at that time I switched into political science
and continued my fascination with history.

6. Which do you prefer: hard/paperbacks or ebooks?

There’s no substitute for reading a book in paper for me.
However, when I get tired of sitting, which happens with all of my writing, I
enjoy being able to read an ebook while pacing for a change. Also, I’m out of
space for print books and hate to part with them. That hasn’t been a problem
with ebooks.

7. If you could have any supernatural power, what would you choose and why?

A time-slip would be great, where I could step out of the
time stream for a bit of relaxation or as time to read or finish a project.
Then I could re-enter the time stream where I left off. It would be great to
have an extra eight hours in a day. Unfortunately, I’m guessing if I had this,
so would everyone else and that wouldn’t help.

8. What book are you reading now?

The Rise of Rome by Anthony Everitt. I just started it so I
don’t have an opinion yet, but the topic of Rome fascinates me, particularly
the Republic.